OT: kemba with 21 tonight. shot the three well and got to the line.

[UConn990411]

Smart's only getting traded for someone like Beal or KAT. That's as close to untradeable as it gets.

And fwiw, the Celtics would be insane to trade him. Great defender who guards 1-4, very good secondary distributor and has turned into a good 3-point shooter. And he's obviously a leader on this team as well.

I hope he retires a Celtic.

Smart is a good player, but this is over starting things. I don’t expect him to get traded because he’s an unusual player that the Celtics likely wouldn’t get equal value for - but I think Celts fans in general overrate how good he is.

He’s also just an okay 3-point shooter, but not a good one. Maybe if he took good shots his percentage would be higher than 31%, but the numbers don’t back up him being a good shooter.

 

[Gurleyman]

I forgot when it comes to the NBA this board doesn't actually watch the games, he wasn't better than Jaylen Brown last year in the playoffs, Tatum and Brown were the 2 best Celtics and no calculator can tell me otherwise.

Nobody’s reputation was hurt worse by the Anunoby 3 than Kemba’s ... and he wasn’t even on the floor. If the Cs played .5 seconds of defense, they are 7-0 in the playoffs without Hayward, and Kemba would have ripped the hearts out of Philly and Toronto. Instead the series goes 7. After G5 (nine playoff games total) he was actually second in the league in offensive rating during the playoffs. Then he gets a box and one thrown on him and is maybe knocked off kilter (hell if the refs called the damn foul he drew at the end of regulation, G6 would have been a one off anomaly from a box and one and he would have gotten another day to rest before Miami - instead he had a tough G7 and it carried over to G1.

Miami was a frustrating series. They threw that inverted zone with Crowder and Butler at the top largely to stop Kemba’s pick and roll game and making sure they always had their best defenders in his vicinity. They stuck their weaker defenders in the corners where he wouldn’t see them. Kemba averaged 20 and had a few spurts where it felt like he’d have one of his signature games, but wasn’t impactful enough, and he missed a couple of really clean looks in the fourth of G6 that he needed to make to stop the slide.

But he could have had that same series with Miami after sweeping Philly and Toronto, with arguably the greatest buzzer beating pass in NBA history, and it would have been a successful first playoff run. Instead Tatum, Theis and Brown fell asleep on the back line of the zone, and people think it was a failure. But Toronto and Miami schemed their defense to take away Kemba because of how well he was playing, and make someone else beat them, and everyone else’s job was easier.

 

[Marat]

Kemba with a great game tonight scoring 32 pts in win over Pacers .

 

[Kenny11]

Not a guy I would doubt.

 

[Travelman6]

Kemba with a great game tonight scoring 32 pts in win over Pacers .

On 10-19 shooting (4-10 from 3, hit all 8 of his freethrows), 6 assists to 1 turnover, 4 boards, 1 steal, only 1 foul. Even got praise from coach.

He still has several great years ahead of him IMO and he led the team tonight and was the best on the floor, at least vs the Pacers tonight.

 

[willie99]

It's a bizarre season for so many reasons. Hard for me to read too much into anything. We need the return to normalcy before I can judge anyone. Everything is different

As for the C's, they need a post presence and they need to play with high energy to succeed. We'll see if anything changes during the playoffs

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

On 10-19 shooting (4-10 from 3, hit all 8 of his freethrows), 6 assists to 1 turnover, 4 boards, 1 steal, only 1 foul. Even got praise from coach.

He still has several great years ahead of him IMO and he led the team tonight and was the best on the floor, at least vs the Pacers tonight.

Idk about several great years. I’d say 2 years of greatness then 3 years of serviceable and a couple years of mentoring a young guy.

that being said, if he makes a couple more ASGs, maybe gets a ship or two...

 

[elmcityboy]

tatum took over late, but kemba changed the complexion of the game when he came back in the fourth tonight. felt like he had four straight assists, then a steal and basket. finished with 21, 5, and 8.

 

[Palatine]

Kemba is knocking off the rust. 8 assists tonight. He was in the middle of everything the Celtics did well.

 

[Gurleyman]

Kemba is knocking off the rust. 8 assists tonight. He was in the middle of everything the Celtics did well.

It’s harder than people think when you don’t play 5 on 5 for six months and then hop back in after one practice. You can show flashes just based on instinct and muscle memory, but the rhythm isn’t always there, and it’s harder to shake off struggles. It was a longer hiatus, but Jordan was a 41 percent shooter in 1995 after coming back from baseball, while he was 50 percent in 1993 and 1996.

Alas, the plan was for the Cs to be in good shape and he could ease his way back in - but Tatum getting covid (and struggling at times since) threw those plans out and it’s been a struggle. The All-Star game reset should hopefully help the team approach the second half of the year with an “ok, now let’s do this” attitude.

I had to scrub all my Celtics Twitter feeds because it was too painful to read. I’m hoping he has some F-U type performances the second half of the year and in the playoffs, but I’ll settle for no more 1-12 or 4-21 games in one-point losses.

 

[the Q]

It’s harder than people think when you don’t play 5 on 5 for six months and then hop back in after one practice. You can show flashes just based on instinct and muscle memory, but the rhythm isn’t always there, and it’s harder to shake off struggles. It was a longer hiatus, but Jordan was a 41 percent shooter in 1995 after coming back from baseball, while he was 50 percent in 1993 and 1996.

Alas, the plan was for the Cs to be in good shape and he could ease his way back in - but Tatum getting covid (and struggling at times since) threw those plans out and it’s been a struggle. The All-Star game reset should hopefully help the team approach the second half of the year with an “ok, now let’s do this” attitude.

I had to scrub all my Celtics Twitter feeds because it was too painful to read. I’m hoping he has some F-U type performances the second half of the year and in the playoffs, but I’ll settle for no more 1-12 or 4-21 games in one-point losses.

They still need some moves, but yes kemba is driving the bus due to how much he has to overcome to get back to normal.

 

[the Q]

So danny effectively traded 4 seconds for Fournier and 30 and theis to avoid the tax.

after the abysmal 2019 draft, and the tt signing, it’s been a rough go in recent history for Danny.

 

[the Q]

Update:

An Aggressive Kemba Walker Could Turn Around Boston’s Season

The Boston Celtics need Kemba Walker to look for his shot.

fivethirtyeight.com

Based on those elite blow by rates kemba seems to be healthy.

The question is why more good drives isn’t resulting in more points